Headstart

The world is ready before you get there.

Flying with an elytra, galloping on a horse or racing a boat over ice, and the terrain in front of you still has to load? Headstart fixes that. It watches where fast players are heading and starts loading the chunks on their path before they arrive. Less stutter, no more flying into empty "void" chunks, and smooth travel at full speed.

No pre-generating the whole map. No client install. Put it on the server, and every player gets a head start.

How it works

1. Put Headstart in your Fabric server's mods folder (or in your own mods folder for singleplayer).
2. That's it. Players don't need to install anything.
3. Twice per second Headstart looks at each player's speed and direction, predicts where they will be in the next few seconds and loads exactly the chunks on that path, just beyond the view distance.

Smart prediction

• Follows your curves: turning with an elytra? The predicted path bends with you
• Nearest chunks first, so the terrain you reach first is ready first
• A path 3 chunks wide, so small changes in direction are covered
• Changed your mind? Turn around, land or stop, and unfinished chunks on the old path are cancelled, so no work is wasted

Built to be gentle on your server

• Chunks are only loaded: mobs, farms and redstone in them do not start running
• Skips chunks that are already loaded, and every loading request expires on its own after 15 seconds
• Slows down when the server gets busy and pauses completely when it lags, then picks up again by itself
• Hard limits per player and for the whole server, and with several fast players, everyone gets a fair share
• Settings in config/headstart.json (speed threshold, look-ahead time, limits, lag protection)

Not a pre-generator

Tools like Chunky generate a big area of the world in advance. Headstart works live: it only loads the strip of world right in front of a player who is actually travelling there. They work great together: pre-generate the area around spawn with Chunky, and let Headstart handle everywhere players fly beyond it.

Made for Lodistance

Headstart is made by the creator of Lodistance. Lodistance shows the world far into the distance, Headstart makes sure the terrain right in front of you is ready when you get there. Use them together for the smoothest long-distance travel.

Settings & commands

Commands are for operators.

Most useful settings in config/headstart.json:

Requirements

• Minecraft 26.3, Fabric Loader 0.20.1+, Fabric API, Java 25
• Server-side: install on the server, or use it in singleplayer. Not needed on the client to join a server.

Compatibility

• Tested in singleplayer together with C2ME, Lithium, Chunky and Lodistance.
• Works with any client: vanilla players can join a server that runs Headstart.

Tips

• Weaker server? Lower maxChunksPerSample, or lower pauseAboveMspt so it backs off sooner.
• Very fast travel (rockets, ice boats)? Raise lookaheadTicks so it looks further ahead.
• Check /headstart while flying to see what it is doing.

This is a beta. Found a problem? Please report it with your latest.log.

License

All rights reserved. Free to play with, also on your own server, and to include in modpacks by linking to this page. Re-uploading or modifying the files is not allowed without permission.

Summary (short description, for the CurseForge "summary" field)

Loads the chunks in front of fast-moving players before they arrive. Smooth elytra, horse and boat travel. Server-side.

Changelog for 0.5.0-beta (first public beta)

• New name: Headstart (was QuickLoad). Your old config file is taken over automatically.
• Predicted path follows curves when you are turning
• Unfinished preloads are cancelled when you turn, land or stop
• Smooth slowdown when the server gets busy, pause when it lags
• One loading request per chunk, already loaded chunks are skipped
• Fair share between players, quieter server log